81R5463 KCR-D
By: Giddings H.B. No. 2547
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the use of a description of employment in determining
the safety and appropriateness of a return to employment by an
injured employee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 408, Labor Code, is
amended by adding Section 408.0221 to read as follows:
Sec. 408.0221. REQUEST FOR DESCRIPTION OF EMPLOYMENT. (a)
This section applies only to an employee of an employer who has 75
or more employees.
(b) To facilitate an injured employee's return to
employment as soon as it is considered safe and appropriate by the
injured employee's treating doctor, the injured employee's employer
shall provide the treating doctor, on request, with a specific
description of:
(1) the scope of the injured employee's employment;
and
(2) any specific tasks the injured employee was
required to perform or specific duties the injured employee was
required to fulfill in the course of the injured employee's
employment before the employee sustained the compensable injury.
(c) A description provided to a treating doctor under
Subsection (b) does not constitute:
(1) a request by the employer that the injured
employee return to the employment; or
(2) an offer of employment by the employer for the
injured employee to return to employment.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a claim for workers' compensation benefits based on a
compensable injury that occurs on or after the effective date of
this Act. A claim based on a compensable injury that occurs before
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on
the date the compensable injury occurred, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.